7 Things you need to know about heat transfer vinyl

Hello Maker,

I have been using heat transfer vinyl since I started my journey in 2018. I’ve experienced a lot of ups and downs. I put this list together to give you a heads up on what to expect when using heat transfer vinyl (HTV). No more crying, cussing and throwing in the towel. Craft with confidence! 

Weeding HTV is like therapy to me. When I’m making tee shirts I have a system in place to make sure I don’t get overwhelmed, feel over worked or stessed out. When I first started creating tee shirts I was looking for the cheapest vinyl so I could get the highest return on my work. I learned real quick that wasn’t the correct way to run a profitable business. Not only did I want to make money but I also wanted to make money easier and in the least amount of time. The cheaper brand vinyl wasn’t cutting it for me. 

Five things I didn’t like about cheap vinyl

1. It did not cut properly in my Cricut
2. Weeding was the absolute worst. Especially with the dot from an i 
3. I would have to press multiple times for the vinyl to stick
4. After 2-3 washes it would peel
5. Complaints from customers about quality 

I found myself wasting vinyl, time and tee shirts. Not to mention going back and forth to the stores to get more supplies then notifying my customer that their product wouldn’t be finished in time. 

Then I discovered Siser vinyl. The brand has been so good to me I’m not even willing to try another one unless they offer a print or fabrication Siser doesn’t. In 2022 I became an authorized reseller of the brand. Shop Siser HTV today.

After using Siser heat transfer vinyl I’ve learned so many tricks and techniques to make wedding easier, pressing Tees faster, long lasting tees and happy customers.

Here’s what I learned that helped save time, money and my sanity.

1. Glitter vinyl, set your cricut dial to light cardstock. This makes the cut deeper so it’s easier to weed
2. I purchase 1 yard or 5 yard rolls only. You get the most for your money with larger rolls
3. You don’t need to put a Teflon sheet over your first press
4. Grab you a desk light or overhead light so you can see the cut outs better.
5. Keep your scraps for smaller projects. Grab a few small binder clips to separate colors.
6. if I’m making multiple shirts of the same design I will cut all my vinyl out to I can place in the cutting machine as soon as the previous one is complete. I also weed all of the cut out vinyl then press each of the shirts back to back.
7. Lay your shirts flat for at least 3 hours. Do not fold, wrinkle or create a crease on the vinyl. This will not correct itself.

8. This may be tedious but can be done…if you mess up a tee, you can pull the vinyl off when it’s still warm

9. Never layer any type of vinyl on top of glitter. If you do, after 1-2 washes the top layer will pull up off of the glitter

10. Once you press your first tee for the day, use the sticky carrier sheet to clean up those small pieces of vinyl you’ve weeded. 

These 10 tips and techniques is just the beginning of using HTV more efficiently. There’s so much to the Siser brand and I’m just getting started. If you liked these tips and want to learn more make sure you follow us on Instagram.

Let us know if you liked this info. Leave your comments and feedback below.